Federation fighter
The Federation fighter or Federation attack fighter was a type of fighter vessel utilized by Federation Starfleet in the late 24th century. History Originally a re-purposed light courier, these ships were first used in combat by the Maquis as attack fighters during their insurrection against the Cardassian Union. In 2370 a pair of such ships were upgraded, armed, and used by former Starfleet officer, Lieutenant Commander Calvin Hudson, in an attempted attack on a Cardassian weapons depot on Bryma, beginning the Maquis uprising. They were engaged by Benjamin Sisko on the USS Rio Grande forcing them into a strategic retreat. (''DS9'' episode: "The Maquis, Part II"; TNG episode: "Preemptive Strike") In 2370, the Maquis were able to procure a large amount of these fighters as part of their fight against the Cardassians in the Demilitarized Zone. During the Dominion War, hundreds of these fighters were deployed in various battle fleets, most notably during Operation Return. ( }}) A large number of Federation fighters were also assigned to protect Earth during the Dominion War. During the Breen assault in late 2375, Federation fighters were scrambled to engage the Breen fighters that had entered Earth's atmosphere. (TNG short story: "Home Soil") This ship type was also used as an Academy flight trainer by Starfleet Academy. (''VOY'' episodes: "Drone", "The Voyager Conspiracy", "Life Line") Tactical systems The attack fighter was capable of carrying an impressive arsenal. When used by Starfleet in 2374, the ships had several forward torpedo launchers and at least one phaser bank with two forward emitters. When used by the Maquis in 2370, the fighters were armed with whatever weapons were available. Pygorian weapons, including photon torpedoes, pulse cannons, ship-mounted high-energy disruptors and particle accelerators were among the weapons used when an attack was planned at a weapons depot on the Bryma Colony. ( ) When used by Starfleet from 2374 onward, the ship was equipped with several forward torpedo launchers and at least one phaser bank with two forward emitters. Captain Keogh referred to these two vessels as "lightly armed shuttlecrafts," compared to the Dominion ships he expected to face. (''DS9'' episode: "The Jem'Hadar") In keeping with it's heritage, the ship was also used as a testbed and as a way to utilize foreign and salvaged equipment, and various runs of the ship were produced with experimental, improvised, and/or nonstandard weaponry. Later in 2370, according to Gul Aman Evek, the Maquis attacking his ship were armed with photon torpedoes and type 8 phasers acquired from an unknown source. (TNG episode: "Preemptive Strike") Background information The fighter cockpit interior, seen in "The Maquis, Part II", was a modification of the type 15 shuttlepod set. It was reused later from DS9: "The Search, Part I" onwards to represent the type 18 shuttlepod cockpit. In the script of "The Maquis, Part II", the phasers used by the Maquis attack fighter are identified as the pulse cannons mentioned earlier in dialogue. The initial phaser blasts in the episode however seems like regular phaser fire from the extended bank under the nose of the ship. Photon torpedoes are seen being fired from the tube at the nose of the ship. When the torpedo tubes are damaged, the fighter opens fire with pulse cannon phasers from two wing mounted banks that are not visible on the model. Visual effects in "Preemptive Strike" show phaser fire pulses coming from the wings, where there are three visible tubes on each wing. Phaser fire is also seen coming from the front ends of the embedded warp nacelles. These banks seem to be targetable, instead of firing straight ahead like the Pygorian pulse cannons in "The Maquis, Part II." The script of "Sacrifice of Angels" states that the attack fighters were firing a barrage of quantum torpedoes when attacking the Dominion lines. The effects used for the phasers and quantum torpedoes of the fighters in this episode were not what is normally associated with these Starfleet weapons. The torpedo launchers were mounted on the wings and on the nose of the ship. In some shots, the wing torpedoes seem to be launched from the same spot where the pulse cannons were located in "The Maquis, Part II." In others, they seem to be coming from the three small visible tubes on each of the wings. These tubes would seem to be much too small to launch full-sized torpedoes. In one shot of "Sacrifice of Angels," one of the fighters is seen firing a bluish-white beam from the one of the two forward phaser emitters, on the extended phaser bank, under the nose of the ship. When a fighter fired the phaser from the same location in "What You Leave Behind," the regular Starfleet phaser effect was used. Apocrypha According to Star Trek Online, the mentioned, but not seen, in DS9: "Heart of Stone" was the class name for this ship type. According to Original Starship Collection, the fighter is 25 meters long, and has 2 pilots. Category:Starfleet fighter classes Category:Maquis ships Category:Fighter classes